ethan frome
In Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, Ethan, a reserved young man was torn between two women. He was married to Zenobia Frome, but his true love was his wife's cousin, Mattie Silver. Zeena and Mattie were different in all aspects. Mattie was a caring, loving, beautiful young girl, while Zeena was a sickly, shrewish woman aged well beyond her years. Ethan was continuously drawn to Mattie throughout the novel, as she was much more attractive and amicable than Zeena. In the novel light was an important motif. When light was shed on Zeena it "...drew out of the darkness her puckered throat... and deepened fantastically the hollows and prominences of her high-boned face under its ring of crimping pins" (pg. 38). The author used light in order to emphasize Zeena's austere and worn face illustrating her cold personality. When light was shed on Mattie it "...drew out with the same distinctness her slim young throat and... it threw a lustrous fleck on her lips, edged her eyes with velvet shade, and laid a milky whiteness above the black curve of her brows" (pg. 59). Mattie looked radiant and full of beauty b
In addition to appearance, the two women have extremely different relationships with Ethan. In order to portray each woman's relationship with Ethan, the author uses the motif of silence. Ethan and Zenobia lived in an uncomfortable quiet. After marrying Ethan Zeena had deteriorated into a stoic state of wordlessness. She and Ethan rarely communicated and life around the house was extremely lonesome. Even in their bedroom, Ethan and Zeena seldom communicated; "He and Zeena had not exchanged a word ... She... had lain down with her face turned away. Ethan hurriedly blew out the light so that he should not see her when he took his place at her side (pg. 41)." Even in their bedroom Ethan and Zeena did not interact with each other. By the end of the novel Ethan and Mattie were deeply in love, yet the only way for them to be together was through death. In a bungled dual suicide attempt Ethan's right side was paralyzed, and Mattie was maimed for life. Mattie ended up living with the Fromes, and was even more fragile than Zeena. Tragically Ethan's fate was not to spend the rest of his life living with
Some common words found in the essay are:
Zeena Mattie, Mattie Zeena, Unlike Zeena's, Ethan Zeena, Ethan Mattie, Mattie Ethan's, Tragically Ethan's, Mattie Deep, Ethan Zenobia, Zenobia Frome, ethan zeena, ethan mattie, mattie's hair, hard perpendicular bonnet, light shed, zeena mattie, silence ethan, bedroom ethan, girl zeena, ethan author, shared ethan mattie, mattie's hair described, bedroom ethan zeena, shared ethan,
Approximate Word count = 743
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
